does anyone outline their sites before they create them
- Thread starter DotCom
- Start date
krymson
Member
Organization is the key to success. It's better to have a plan going into something then going in blind.
It takes me and my partner a few days to even got to the point where we're coding a mock up. We do research on the client, their industry, their competition, what's going to set them apart, what's going to bring people back to their site, how is their site going to impact their business in a positive way in the long run, how can we speed the process up. All of this comes into play to build a successful website and keep that client working with you on an on going basis.
When you're able to gather this information you already know what they expect to see in their site without them even having to tell you. Of course every company is going to be a little bit different than the others in their industry and that's where they're going to have to fill you in on, but at least you'll know their industry standards on the type of content, keywords, design schemes, stock photos, and all that jazz to look for.
If you don't do this it's like trying to design a bio-nuclear physicist web site. You ever seen one of those? Probably not, so you can't just dive in head first and expect the client to be happy with the first few mock ups you design without knowing symbols and patterns and key points to highlight in the design process.
It takes me and my partner a few days to even got to the point where we're coding a mock up. We do research on the client, their industry, their competition, what's going to set them apart, what's going to bring people back to their site, how is their site going to impact their business in a positive way in the long run, how can we speed the process up. All of this comes into play to build a successful website and keep that client working with you on an on going basis.
When you're able to gather this information you already know what they expect to see in their site without them even having to tell you. Of course every company is going to be a little bit different than the others in their industry and that's where they're going to have to fill you in on, but at least you'll know their industry standards on the type of content, keywords, design schemes, stock photos, and all that jazz to look for.
If you don't do this it's like trying to design a bio-nuclear physicist web site. You ever seen one of those? Probably not, so you can't just dive in head first and expect the client to be happy with the first few mock ups you design without knowing symbols and patterns and key points to highlight in the design process.
in a nutshell yes.
A site with little or no thought put into IA, UX and UI or a supporting business and marketing strategy is going to fail.
no amount of jquery fancypants is going to fix an otherwise flawed concept because the IA was simply glossed over, the UX wasnt considered and the UI was simply a store bought template.
perhaps if you are doing a 5pager you can wing it, but for a complicated site, preparation is 90% of the work.
as for an "outline algorithm" this is useful but not crucial.
if and when you ever get a good client that gives you all the content first, and thus you build from that you will understand the benefits that can be gained from making one though.
for me I generally like to be able to "read" the code as if it was simply a document.
the more fluff (js css, extraneous divs, etc) in the way the more I have strayed from my outline. It is also an excellent way to cut down on your code, unnecessary components and it generally makes responsive designed sites a lot easier to manage.
A site with little or no thought put into IA, UX and UI or a supporting business and marketing strategy is going to fail.
no amount of jquery fancypants is going to fix an otherwise flawed concept because the IA was simply glossed over, the UX wasnt considered and the UI was simply a store bought template.
perhaps if you are doing a 5pager you can wing it, but for a complicated site, preparation is 90% of the work.
as for an "outline algorithm" this is useful but not crucial.
if and when you ever get a good client that gives you all the content first, and thus you build from that you will understand the benefits that can be gained from making one though.
for me I generally like to be able to "read" the code as if it was simply a document.
the more fluff (js css, extraneous divs, etc) in the way the more I have strayed from my outline. It is also an excellent way to cut down on your code, unnecessary components and it generally makes responsive designed sites a lot easier to manage.
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Interesting, thank you.